Game Day: Knicks @ Pistons, 4/3/21
The Knicks get the worst team in the East on the second game of a back-to-back on the road. Will the Knicks snap their three-game skid, or keep free-falling further into the abyss?
These past few games have been pretty concerning to me.
I wrote in last night’s recap that this current three-game losing streak has felt different from previous Knicks losing streaks this year, maybe with the exception of the five-game streak early in the year that plunged the Knicks to 5-8 at the time.
With few exceptions, every loss since that five-game streak has been a close one, where the Knicks fought their asses off but just got edged out by the other team. When those exceptions occurred (like the 119-93 loss to the Spurs on March 2 or the 134-101 loss to the Bucks on March 11) the Knicks always responded the next game with a performance that said, “Hey, our bad, that big loss was just a fluke."
These last three losses have not been that at all. In a way, it almost feels like the Knicks think they’re better than they actually are — that they have the surplus of talent to just get out to a 10-point lead early and coast for the rest of the game. The Knicks held leads of nine, 18, and 13 points against the Heat, T-Wolves, and Mavs, respectively, before reverting to iso ball and tanking their chances of victory. That can’t keep happening.
The solution that many people would go to would be to experiment with changing up rotations, and maybe even the starting lineup (GASP). Unfortunately, Tom Thibodeau has given me exactly zero reason to believe there’s any chance that’s going to happen.
The Pistons are getting back prized rookie Killian Hayes from a hip injury, which has left him sidelined since Jan. 4. The last time Killian donned the Detroit uni, Derrick Rose was still playing the mentor role in Detroit. I doubt that he’ll get the starting nod, despite starting his first seven games of the season. He’s going to need some time to get his wind back.
That said, if he came in and torched the Knicks for 20 points in 14 minutes or something, that wouldn’t surprise me one bit!
Otherwise, the Pistons are pretty much healthy. They’re also the worst team in the East. You might think that means something, but I’d ask you to remember the Knicks blowing an 18-point lead to the Timberwolves just a few nights ago. For a while, the Knicks were doing a good job of beating the teams they were supposed to beat. Right now, that’s not really the case.
The Knicks should be pretty much fully healthy again, and I know I sound like a broken record here, but maybe try something different?
SNY’s Ian Begley, being the man of the people that he is, asked Thibs about those very numbers in his presser, and received this answer:
“You have to look at totality, you have to look at sample size, you have to look at who it’s against. One is a large sample size, the other one is a very small sample size. So you got to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. But net rating is important to me. And so one game or a small sample size is not a tell-all, be-all. There are a lot of other things that factor into it as well.”
“The sample size isn’t big enough” feels like the basketball equivalent of searching for your first job after college and seeing a bunch of “entry level” listings that require three years of experience. Hey, I know how I could get the experience! You could hire me (or in this case, play me)!
At any rate, this game is probably one of the biggest tests of the Knicks’ season, and could be a tipping point if things are going to break bad for the home stretch. If the Knicks manage to lose this game, they’ve got games against Brooklyn, Boston, and Memphis next week. They could realistically be looking a 24-29 record in the face by this time next week if they don’t get their shit together.
Game’s at 8:00 PM on MSG. Feel free to comment along here or hang with us on Twitter!
